Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative logo

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative ( EITI ) ( German Initiative for Transparency in the Extractive Sector ) is an international initiative with the participation of numerous non-governmental organizations , companies and countries , which is specifically dedicated to the transparency of the income of developing countries from the extraction of raw materials.

The purpose of this initiative is to fight corruption in countries with a wealth of natural resources and to strengthen what is known as good governance by comparing payment flows from companies that extract raw materials as levies to the state (taxes, royalties, etc.) with those that the state receives from companies. This is to prevent this money from being bypassed, embezzled or used for any purpose for which there is little or no priority from a macroeconomic perspective.

With the introduction of the EITI standard in July 2013, the disclosure requirements of governments and companies were significantly expanded. B. on the activities of state companies, payment flows for the transport of raw materials and the distribution to regions and cities.

history

In the late 1990s and early 2000s there was a growing body of academic literature on commodities and commodity governance. Economists such as Jeffrey Sachs, Joseph Stiglitz, Terry Lynn Karl and Paul Collier increasingly devoted themselves to the question of the “resource curse” and examined the apparent paradox that in most countries resource wealth does not lead to economic growth, but rather often with increased poverty, conflict and Corruption goes hand in hand.

In 2002, the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair intended to address the main features of the initiative for transparency in extractive industries in a speech at the World Summit on Sustainable Development . Due to tension between Tony Blair and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe , the outline as such was not carried out. In 2003, the UK Development Department invited business, civil society and government actors to work out the basic principles of such an initiative. The twelve principles were presented at a conference in London in 2003 and a pilot phase of the EITI was launched in Nigeria , Azerbaijan , Ghana and the Kyrgyz Republic . The UK Department for International Development continued to lead the initiative.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative ( EITI ) was confirmed at the 2003 World Economic Summit in Évian-les-Bains . The World Bank set up the EITI Multi-Donor Fund in 2004 , which in summer 2005 had a volume of 1.5 million GBP.

At the second EITI conference in London in March 2005, six criteria were drawn up which defined the minimum requirements for transparency in resource management in the oil, gas and mining sectors and thus laid the foundation for the organization. An international advisory group (IAG), chaired by Peter Eigen, was also set up at this conference to support the further work on the establishment and functioning of the EITI. On the recommendation of the international advisory group, an independent international secretariat was set up in Oslo in October 2006 and a board made up of various project participants (multi-stakeholder board) was set up.

activities

The EITI publishes a list on its website of all countries that are already disclosing their cash flows, preparing to disclose or have announced that they will. Germany has been an EITI member since February 2016.

The following countries are currently members of the EITI (as of February 2018):

Afghanistan , Albania , Armenia , Burkina Faso , Cameroon , Central African Republic , Chad , Colombia , Côte d'Ivoire , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Dominican Republic , Ethiopia , Germany , Ghana , Guatemala , Guinea , Guyana , Honduras , Indonesia , Iraq , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyz Republic , Liberia , Madagascar , Malawi , Mali , Mauritania , Mexico , Mongolia , Mozambique , Myanmar , Nigeria , Norway , Papua New Guinea , Peru , Philippines , Republic of the Congo , São Tomé and Príncipe , Senegal , Seychelles , Sierra Leone , Solomon Islands , Suriname , Tajikistan , Tanzania , Timor-Leste , Togo , Trinidad and Tobago , Ukraine , Great Britain , Zambia .

The EITI also publishes a list of the reports that have already been published on its website.

organization

The current Chair of the Board is Frederik Reinfeldt , former Prime Minister of Sweden. The previous chairmen were Clare Short (2011-2016) and Peter Eigen (2006-2011). The International Secretariat, based in Oslo , Norway, supports the global EITI process .

criticism

One of the most common criticisms of the EITI is that the initiative is voluntary. None of the members face serious sanctions if they fail to comply with the standard, and for this reason it is also difficult for the initiative to be able to react seriously to possible grievances. Another critical point is that there are always countries in which civil society is systematically prevented from doing its work. With the acceptance of the Ethiopian EITI application, the credibility of the body was also called into question, since civil society was obviously not able to act freely at the time of the application. With regard to Azerbaijan's EITI membership, the EITI was accused of not responding appropriately to human rights violations in the country and of not doing enough to protect civil society. Azerbaijan left the EITI in March 2017. The economists Ivar Kolstad and Arne Wiig also criticize that transparency measures alone are not sufficient. Only free media and a society with an educational background could spread information and put pressure on governments and businesses.

Web links

• Information on the EITI from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
• EITI website
• Website of the preparatory group of the Germany EITI

Individual evidence

1. ↑ EITI standard
2. ↑ https://www.gov.uk/extractive-industries-transparency-initiative
3. ↑ http://eiti.org/eiti/history
4. ↑ twelve principles
5. ^ Conference in 2003 in London ( Memento of August 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
6. ^ History of the EITI | Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Retrieved February 13, 2018 . 
7. ↑ EITI Multi-Donor Fund
8. ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Norway to host EITI international secretariat. Retrieved December 8, 2006, February 13, 2018 (UK English). 
9. ↑ http://eiti.org/countries
10. ↑ Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy: Transparency in the raw material extraction industry. Retrieved February 13, 2018 . 
11. ↑ List of EITI reports for all participating countries and candidates (English)
12. ↑ Extracting oil, burying data. Accessed February 13, 2018 . 
13. ↑ In Accepting Ethiopia, Transparency Group "Sacrifices Credibility" | Inter Press Service. Retrieved February 13, 2018 . 
14. ^ Azerbaijan: Transparency Group Should Suspend Membership . In: Human Rights Watch . August 14, 2014 ( hrw.org [accessed February 13, 2018]).
15. ↑ Is Transparency the Key to Reducing Corruption in Resource-Rich Countries? In: World Development . tape 37 , no. 3 , March 1, 2009, ISSN  0305-750X , p. 521-532 , doi : 10.1016 / j.worlddev.2008.07.002 .